Pawan Kalyan’s latest film Ustaad Bhagat Singh failed to meet even the bare minimum expectations at the box office, despite releasing as a festive attraction during Ugadi on March 19.
Directed by Harish Shankar, the film faced strong competition from Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which went on to become a blockbuster and completely dominated the box office. Despite aggressive promotions, Ustaad Bhagat Singh simply could not hold its ground.
From day one, the film showed weak collections and received largely negative feedback from the public. There was no recovery over the weekend or in the following days. Instead, the numbers kept dropping. The theatrical run ended quickly, and the film eventually turned into a clear box office failure. Trade estimates suggest losses in the range of Rs. 60-80 crores.
After disappointing in theatres, the film is now heading to OTT. Netflix had already acquired the digital rights for a good price before the film’s release, and the streaming date is now locked.
Ustaad Bhagat Singh will start streaming from April 16 on Netflix, within four weeks of its theatrical release. It will be available in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi, aiming to reach a wider audience.
The makers will be hoping for a better response on OTT, where some films get a second life. But in this case, that looks impossible. The film was heavily trolled during its theatrical run as the content simply was extremely bad.
In fact, OTT could now make things worse. Once the film lands online, viewers will pause, rewind, and closely examine every scene. That usually leads to even harsher trolling. The same pattern was seen with Prabhas’ Raja Saab, which became a bigger target after its OTT release, eventually turning Prabhas into a meme material.
There is a real chance Ustaad Bhagat Singh could go through the same phase.
For now, it is a second chance, but definitely a risky one. Let us see if the film holds up better on Netflix or ends up facing even more heat from OTT audience.
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